Kenyan doomsday sect leader jailed 200 years for child murders
The gist
A Kenyan court sentenced pastor Paul Mackenzie to 200 years for murdering 191 people, 190 of them children.
Other charges against him are still pending in Kenyan courts.
How it unfolded
- 2023Mackenzie was arrested in April 2023 after a rights group tipped off authorities and some followers were rescued; more than 400 bodies were exhumed from shallow graves on Chakama Ranch in Kilifi County.
- 2024The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said the death toll was 429.
- Oct 19, 2026The court found all 29 accused guilty of the murder of 191 people.
Key terms
- High Court
- A superior court with broad original jurisdiction over criminal and civil cases, plus supervisory power over lower courts.
- death penalty
- State-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for a crime, carried out as an execution.
- cult
- A social group with unusual or extreme religious, spiritual or philosophical beliefs and rituals, often showing extreme devotion.
Source: Wikipedia